NRA CET 2024: Latest Update, Exam Date, Pattern & Syllabus

Updated on Apr 3, 2024 11:08 IST

By Anangsha Patra, Deputy Manager – Editorial

NRA CET 2024: National Recruitment Agency (NRA) will soon release NRA CET notification 2024. The exam dates will be announced along with the notification. Recently, in a reply to the question asked by Randeep Singh Surejwala, Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh, said that CET for group B and C posts is a major shift which requires the availability of reliable IT and physical infrastructure, apart from norms and guidelines for various stages of CET, pan India. Therefore, the exam has been delayed. The Minister further added CET can be implemented only after IT and physical structure have been put in place and norms and guidelines for various stages for the same have been evolved.

NRA CET 2024 exam will be conducted in more than 1000 exam centres in 117 districts spread throughout the country. NRA CET score will be valid for three years and it will be conducted every year. Besides, Central and State Government departments, public and private sectors enterprises will accept the score of CET.

According to the media reports, NRA is in the final stages of designing the conduct of computer-based Common Eligibility Test (CET). The level of NRA CET will be based on the detailed analytical study of different examination systems in the country as well as the scale and scope of the mandate. At present, besides Chairman, NRA comprises three officers-Secretary-cum-Controller of Examination, One Director and one Deputy Secretary level Officer. The detailed NRA CET dates 2024 will be announced along with the notification. Initially, the test will be conducted in 12 languages including Hindi and English. Later on, all the languages mentioned in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution will be added. Read below for more details on NRA CET 2024 exam.

Q: When will the NRA CET be conducted?

NRA CET exam dates are yet to be announced by the NRA. Exam will be conducted in more than 1000 exam centres. Marks is valid for three years.Selection is done as per the government rule.

Q: What is meant by NRA?

NRA or National Recruitment Agency is a multi-agency body that has been set up for the recruitment of candidates for various central government jobs. The formation of NRA was announced in 2020-21 Union Budget. NRA will conduct NRA Common Eligibility Test The exam will be conducted to screen/shortlist certain categories of posts in Central Government, the recruitment is currently carried out by Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).

Q: Is NRA already established?

NRA include Chairman, Secretary-cum-Controller of Examinations, Director and Deputy Secretary, etc.

Table of contents

What is NRA CET?
NRA CET Exam Highlights 2024
NRA CET 2024 Syllabus
NRA CET FAQs

What is NRA CET?

The full form of NRA CET is National Recruitment Agency Common Eligibility Test (NRA CET). The NRA is an autonomous society under the Societies Act thay will work as an independent, professional and specialist organisation. The plan to set up NRA was proposed by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. NRA CET is a screening/preliminary exam that will be conducted by the newly approved NRA to shortlist candidates for various Group-B and C non-technical and non-gazetted posts. Candidates will now have to appear for one single entrance exam, i.e, CET, for various Government Exams such as Bank, SSC & Railways.

The National Recruitment Agency (NRA) will conduct Common Eligibility Test (CET) for various non-gazetted posts in Central Government departments. The setting up of NRA was announced in the 2020-21 budget. Through NRA CET candidates are screened/shortlisted for certain categories of posts in Central Government for which the recruitment is carried out through Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). On the basis of CET scores, candidates are considered for the further rounds of selection. The final selection is done through separate exams, to be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies.

NRA CET is held twice a year and the score is valid for three years. Candidates can give Common Eligibility Test every year to improve their scores. Based on the score, candidates can apply for various Banking, SSC and Railway recruitments. NRA CET will replace prelims/tier 1 exams conducted by recruitment bodies such as SSC, IBPS and RRBs.

There will be atleast one NRA CET exam centre in each district of the country. There will be two centres in ladakh district also. With one single screening test, it will reduce the burden of candidates for applying and appearing in various prelims/tier 1 exam.

Also Read:

NRA CET Full Form

Benefits of NRA CET

Which Exam will Come Under CET?

In the process, NRA is likely to overtake the responsibility of conducting the prelims/tier-I online exam from three government recruitment bodies:

Government Bodies	Exams to be Conducted by NRA
Staff Selection Commission (SSC)	SSC CGL SSC CHSL SSC GD SSC CPO SSC Stenographer SSC JHT SSC MTS SSC Selection Post Exam
Railway Recruitment Board (RRB)	RRB Group-D RRB NTPC
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)	IBPS PO IBPS Clerk

All candidates who clear NRA CET will then have to appear for the further stages/tiers of their respective exams that will be conducted by the respective government bodies-SSC, RRB and IBPS.

NRA CET: Salient Features & Benefits

Check out some salient features and benefits of the National Recruitment Agency CET below:

NRA CET will be conducted to screen candidates at the first level only for SSC, IBPS, and RRB recruitment
Based on NRA CET score, final selection will be made through separate specialised tier-II/tier-III exams to be conducted by the respective recruitment agency (SSC/IBPS/RRB)
NRA CET will be conducted twice a year
Complete NRA CET exam process, including filling up of the application form, release of admit card, announcement of result, etc. will be done online
There will be separate online NRA CETs for graduates, Class 12 and Class 10 candidates
The official website of NRA will have mock tests and 24X7 helpline
Candidates will be able to schedule their tests and choose exam centre of their choice
NRA CET score of a candidate will be valid for three years
Best available NRA CET score of three years to be considered for selection/recruitment
NRA CET scores can be shared with central government, state governments, Union Territories (UTs), Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and private sector
Through NRA CET, candidates will get the opportunity to compete for many posts by appearing for just one exam

Commonly asked questions

Q: How many CETs will NRA conduct?

NRA will conduct three CETs as per the eligibility of candidates-Class 10, Class 12 and graduation. On the basis of CET scores, candidates are considered for the further rounds of selection. The final selection is done through separate exams, to be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies.

Q: For which posts or vacancies will NRA CET be conducted?

NRA CET will be conducted for posts and vacancies released under SSC, RRB and IBPS. Some of the tier-I exams that NRA will take over in the coming months include SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, SSC GD, SSC CPO, SSC MTS, RRB Group-D, RRB NTPC, IBPS PO and IBPS Clerk.

Q: What is NRA CET exam?

NRA CET is a common eligibility test that will be conducted by National Recruitment Agency to screen candidates at the first level of various SSC, RRB and IBPS recruitment exams. The NRA CET exam will be conducted to recruit candidates for various Group B and C non-technical and non-gazetted posts.

NRA CET Exam Highlights 2024

Some of the key highlights of NRA CET 2024 exam are summarised below:

Exam Particulars	Exam Details
Exam Name	NRA CET (National Recruitment Agency Common Eligibility Test)
Conducting Body	NRA (National Recruitment Agency)
Exam Level	National
Exam Frequency	Twice a year
Mode of Exam	Online
Exam Purpose	Selection of candidates for various Group-B and C non-technical posts
Exam Fees	To be notified
Exam Duration	One hour (Expected)
Total Marks	200 (Expected)
Total Questions	100 (Expected)
Marking Scheme	To be notified
Language/Medium of Exam	12 major Indian languages including Hindi and English
No. of Test Cities	More than 1000 centres spread across 117 districts
Official Website	To be notified
Contact Details	To be notified

NRA CET 2024 Syllabus

NRA CET syllabus will be in line with the educational qualification of candidate- Class 10, 12 or Graduation. The syllabus will include topics such as Basic Aptitude, Test of Reasoning, Verbal Ability, General Science and General Knowledge, etc. Candidates can check below few topics for NRA CET exam.

General Intelligence & Reasoning: Analogies, Syllogism, Venn Diagram, Input Output, Puzzles, Coding and Decoding, Seating Arrangement, etc.

Quantitative Aptitude: Number Systems, Percentages, Data Interpretation, Mensuration, Simple and Compound Interest, etc.

English Language: Vocabulary, Fill in the Blanks, Comprehension Passage, Cloze Test, Para Jumbles, etc.

General Awareness: Current Affairs of National and International Importance, Games and Sports, General Science, Indian Economy, etc.

View Syllabus

NRA CET FAQs

Candidates can check below the NRA CET FAQs.

Commonly asked questions

Q: Will NRA also conduct UPSC exams?

No, NRA will not conduct any UPSC exam. It will conduct exams only for SSC, RRB and IBPS. The recruitment by NRA CET will be done for various Group B and C posts. Besides, Central and State Government departments, public and private sectors enterprises will accept the score of CET. NRA CET score will be valid for three years and it will be conducted every year.

Q: What is the process after qualifying NRA CET?

After qualifying NRA CET, you have to appear for the next stages of your respective recruitment exams conducted by your respective recruitment agencies such as SSC, RRB and IBPS. Through NRA CET candidates are screened/shortlisted for certain categories of posts in Central Government for which the recruitment is carried out through Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). On the basis of CET scores, candidates are considered for the further rounds of selection. The final selection is done through separate exams, to be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies.

Q: Would IBPS, RRB and SSC stop working if there will be NRA CET exam?

No, SSC, RRB and IBPS will continue conducting recruitment exams as per the vacancies posted by the government. They will only stop conducting the first-level screening exam for recruitment.

Q: Is NRA CET better than the current system?

Yes, NRA CET is better than it will save a lot of time and money of SSC, RRB and IBPS candidates. Through one online exam, candidates will be eligible to apply for a wide range of posts. The exam will also help in expediting the recruitment process of SSC, IBPS and RRB agencies.

Q: What is the syllabus of NRA CET?

NRA CET syllabus will be announced once the National Recruitment Agency is set up. However, the syllabus is expected to be in line with the current syllabus of the various tier-I IBPS, SSC and RRB exams. NRA CET syllabus is given below:

Reasoning Ability